Education

“You Think You Can Change the Climate?” I was not prepared when an acquaintance at a Super Bowl party asked this question in response to my sharing that I am working on the climate crisis. It seemed a long time before my response, “yes I do.” That got me thinking. Being a climate activist is [...]

I still love you, but you’re making it very difficult…
This may be the sentiment that God has in response to our treatment of His gift of the earth and everything living upon it. He is definitely calling us in the night. “I will go Lord, if you lead me,” the hymn offers. The General Board of Church and Society is offering leadership in the publication of Social Principles(1), in part, a response to the climate crisis.
“God has granted us stewardship of creation.”(p22) “…developments have led to regional defoliation, dramatic extinction of species, massive human suffering, overpopulation, and misuse and overconsumption of natural and nonrenewable resources…”
“The whole earth is God’s good creation and as such has inherent value. We are aware that the current utilization of energy sources threatens this creation at it’s very foundation.” “We encourage persons to limit CO2 emissions toward the goal of one tonne per person annually.”(p23) Currently some are responsible for emitting 10 times that amount. “We strongly advocate for the priority of the development of renewable energies.” This is a much easier lift now that renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels.
“Science and theology are complementary rather than mutually incompatible.”(p25) We therefore encourage dialogue between the scientific and theological communities and seek the kind of participation that will enable humanity to sustain life on earth and, by God’s grace, increase the quality of our common lives together.”
Still a bit fuzzy how you can help protect God’s gift today? Slow down on eating beef; make a game of how long you can leave the car at home; plant an edible landscape; recycle especially plastic and aluminum; join EarthKeepers (2); buy local produce/products, but most importantly, talk about the climate crisis with others. Share ideas. God still loves you but his patience is wearing thin.
1. Social Principles of the United Methodist Church 2017-2020, The United Methodist Publishing House, gbcs@gbcs.org
2. EarthKeepers- https://www.umcmission.org/learn-about-us/news-and-stories/2018/november/earthkeepers-commissioned-to-creative-service

https://www.climaterealityproject.org/training?segment=web_homepage_tile 17,000 Climate Leaders trained and working around the world! You can be trained (for free) by experts in climate change and community organizing in Atlanta or Brisbane, Australia. Dozens were trained this year from Arizona/Nevada, so you will have support and may consider joining the Baja Chapter in Tucson. Put this training in your [...]

Dove of the Desert United Methodist Church http://www.doveofthedesert.com/ The Board of Church and Society at Dove will be presenting “Global Warming - A Christian Perspective” on Saturday, November 10 in rooms 15/16 from 10:00 am - 2:30 pm. This presentation is the product of months of hard work and current research by members of [...]

Each 4 X 8 plot has a hose bibb. https://www.umcmission.org/find-resources/new-world-outlook-magazine/2018/october/the-pizza-garden-in-mesa-arizona Along with the Global Missions training I received to become a EarthKeeper in the Methodist church, UMCOR also published some of the projects attendees accomplished when they were commissioned to go back to their communities. Creating a church garden and Green [...]

The Franciscan Renewal Center will be showing two environmental films in the next two months. The movies will be shown in the San Damiano Auditorium. First, on March 21, The Sierra Club is sponsoring the movie Before the Flood. This movie, presented by National Geographic, features Leonardo DiCaprio on a journey as a United Nations Messenger [...]

The Care for Creation Ministry from the Franciscan Renewal Center is tackling the consumption of single-use plastic as a primary 2018 goal. Cleaner air, land, and oceans have inspired this mission. Much of the work will involve education. For example, do you know that nearly 300 million tons of plastics are manufactured each year? Fifty [...]

A time for Action-As President T. Roosevelt said, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” Sounds like good advice even in this era. It seems likely that God created the goodness of the Earth for every creature, not every corporation. I challenge you to do more than talk, tweet, comment [...]